Soldiers Memorial Committee Meeting December 9, 2025

October 15th minutes:

Pledge

Roll Call
Colleen Chesmore
Kevin Thomas
Ken Harstine
Laddy Rua
Rick Purcell
Nelson Serrao

September Minutes accepted

Thursday October 9th, Scott Meyer was accepted onto the commission.

Memorial Day 2026 will have a parade

No progress on security systems.

Front door repairs contract ($2000) has been given to the vendor. Need minor change to the contract.

Next week Stanley Steamer with come in on the 24th at 9am to do the carpet in the honors room. Need help moving furniture from the room. We will meet at 3pm on Thursday for removal.
Saturday the 18th 6pm wrestling group. Setting up on Friday and Saturday at noon.

Grounds maintenance. Dave trimmed and maintenance cut lawn last week. Gallagher is the DPW director for the building.

Snow removal. Internal janitor is responsible for entrance walks. We may need to engage if that does not happen. Who does the sidewalks.
Attic cleaning. Inventory of emergency supplies was completed. $750 for each cage up stairs.
Steve’s office has largely been cleaned out. One refrigerator to go.
Colleen will meet with the Chief of Police on the 1st Wednesday of November. Disbursing of warming supplies from the attic will be discussed. Possibly give some to Salvation Army. Kevin will talk to the Men’s Shelter. Blankets and Pillows offered to Providence Place.
CERT says we need to keep the training supplies. All else can go. CERT will have training October 20th at 5pm until 6pm. Nelson and Colleen will attend.

T Shirts. Need size and colors from each member. Two shirts per person.

Audio Video status. Will be put on the capital improvement list.
Floor, $18,924. Desire changes to description of work.

Bathroom refitting. Get quotes per bathroom. Refit the front bathrooms. Remove other rooms from public use. Stage bathroom would also be refitted. 2nd floor is also an employee restroom. Basement will have three privacy stalls. Basement locker room needs investigation.
Electronic board.
JFK Memorial. $45K to repair and refit the memorial.
Capital improvement plan.
Voice. Commission is a member. November 18th is the next Voice meeting 2pm.

10-25 Wrestling
November 11th Veterans Breakfast. November 11th, Veterans Day. Need nominees. Veterans of Year. Citizen of the Year. Commissioner needed for Master of Ceremonies from the committee. Kevin will be MC.
Next meeting December 9th.

December 9th Minutes:

Pledge

Roll Call

Colleen Chesmore on Phone
Kevin Thomas
Ken Harstine
Laddy Rua
Don Andrejczyk

Guests:
Renae Cutcher
Robert Comeau

Accepted minutes

Guests present to discuss 250th Revolutionary war activities
Renae grew up in Holyoke. Currently honoring dead from previous wars. Asking for a Revolutionary War memorial for casualties from this area. Reinstall the Spanish American War memorial.
Revolutionary War:
Edward Day, Died at Fort Ticonderoga
Robert Day, Died on way to deliver food and supplies to Ticonderoga
French and Indian War
Elisha Chapin, Killed outside Fort Massachusetts in Williamstown.
Needs photos of the Spanish American Memorial stone at DPW.
Need a proposal for CPA funding for monuments. Deadline is January 9th.
Randy, Mike and Wayne should be brought into this process.
Jim Wildman handles the JFK memorial rehabilitation.

Old Business:
Security Systems: No news. System has lately been more reliable. Placed on capital improvement plan
Front Door: Found original handle.
Chandeliers: Possibly remove from dimmer and connect to a hard switch. Will table until more funding comes available.
Winter grounds care: City eventually gets to us but low priority
Attic cleaning: Cages need to be emptied. Need to remove stuff and find homes. Agreed to allow Heather to take items to Scouts. “Buy Nothing Holyoke”. Metal recycling to take to Chicopee recycling for money. See if Rick Purcell can do this.
TShirts: Need Friends of the War Memorial funds which are not currently accessible. Need to finalize the design.
Audio Systems: Tabled.
Bathroom Refitting: waiting for quotes. Rooms have been cleaned and lights repaired. Auxiliary traffic managers need to have a plan for janitors access.
Janatize has been contracted to clean the building. Funding has been changed from DPW to Janatize to pay for service. Here Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. Job description was finished. The Janitor stepped down in November
Capital Improvement Plan: No new items.
Recent events: Salsa night. Janitor Brian was here for the building. Internet was not working well. Need to reset WI-FI passwords for building. Giving feedback on fire evacuees operations. Need police or equivalent to police the building during these events. No medical persons on site either. Need plan for pets.

New Business:
War Memorial Kitchen:
Kate’s Kitchen: Would like to take over our kitchen. Serve lunch and dinner. Run seven days. Have a thrift shop. Board of health examined the kitchen. Needs cleaned and refurbished. All present voted against accepting this proposal.

Next meeting: January 13th.